The Design and Evolution of the Physician's Assistant

Occupations which are designed as subordinate to the more powerful and prestigious professions have built-in limits to the degree to which they can acquire valued professional attributes. The physician's assistant (P.A.) occupation is an example. The general model of professional development cannot adequately deal with the evolutionary process of the P.A. A content analysis of the literature on the P.A. uncovered three periods in the P.A.'s development: Period I, characterized by the design and selling of an innovative role; Period II, characterized by the planning and establishment of the P.A.; and Period III, characterized by attempts to entrench the P.A. within the medical/paramedical hierarchy.